Thursday, October 7, 2010

What motivates on-going social participation?

I highly recommend watching this video:  The surprising truth about what motivates us.  It uses entertaining animation  to summarize some insightful research on the topic of motivation and rewards. (how can people draw like that?)   Their conclusion is that money is not the motivating factor, but rather having a challenge, demonstrating mastery and making a contribution.  Wow!   Not money?  But, when you think about the open source movement and crowd sourcing, it does begin to make sense. 

So ... companies need take advantage of this need to be recognized for making a contribution.  Internally, this means on-going support from management, their close network, and co-workers from different organizations.  The hard part is keeping consistent focus on this ... every week, every day.  Employees need to be assured that their social participation is seen as having value within the organization. Externally, companies need to find creative ways to encourage conversation on topics that benefit their business.  Recognition by your brand goes a long way, but does come with risk.  It's an area that needs a careful strategy with a thoughtful analysis of the organizations ability to support it for the long haul.  Once you start, you have to keep it going!

I welcome any ideas that you have had in the area of motivation and recognition.

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